The resolution also renames Springfield`s Centennial Building after former Democratic Secretary of State Michael Howlett, who died this year.

Though legislative resolutions only sometimes carry the force of law, state officials said a resolution was used in 1977 to name Springfield`s Stratton Building for former Gov. William Stratton.

After Thompson announced in 1989 that he wouldn`t run for a fifth term, many speculated that the State of Illinois Center, 100 W. Randolph St., eventually would be renamed the Thompson Building.

The pink-and-blue building, with its huge open atrium and offices for 3,000 workers, was completed in 1985. It was controversial from the start, and not just for its ultramodern design.

The building originally was budgeted for $85 million, but it wound up costing $172 million. Thompson said the original estimate never included the cost of furnishings.

Everyone, however, agreed that the building`s air conditioning didn`t work. The state spent millions to fix it after workers endured temperatures of up to 110 degrees on some upper floors during the summers of 1985 and 1986.

As Illinois House members debated the resolution Tuesday, Rep. William Black (R-Danville) questioned whether anyone had asked Thompson whether he wanted the building named after him.

When Rep. Louis Lang (D-Skokie) said no one apparently had, Black said,

``I`ve been in the State of Illinois Center, and I wouldn`t want it named after me.``